WASHINGTON — Senate leaders have struck a bipartisan agreement to keep the government funded past the 2026 midterm elections and avoid a politically tricky shutdown in October. Funding currently expires at the end of Sept. 30, triggering a full government shutdown on Oct. 1 if Congress fails to act. The continuing resolution, or “CR,” was announced Sunday by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Vice Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash. It would keep funds flowing at existing levels until Dec. The Senate is slated to hold a procedural vote to advance the legislation on Monday, with the goal of passing it this week before the chamber leaves for its August recess.

It would give time for congressional leaders to pursue a longer-term solution after the midterm elections, when the results will likely shape the direction of the next full-year funding package. But first, it will need to pass the House, which has already left Washington for the August recess and returns in early September. House Republicans passed their own funding bill through Dec. 4, and the two chambers will need to work out their differences. Collins said the Senate stopgap bill is “straightforward” and avoids “poison pills” while attaching “necessary adjustments” for the SNAP and WIC food programs, as well as disaster relief and national security programs. “This measure gives Congress the time we need to continue our work on bipartisan appropriations bills, which are always my strong preference for handling annual government funding,” said Collins, who faces a c…